cory seems to have some type of reddish tinge and acting restless. or am I just paranoid

[Byron]

The female came and picked them off the glass just a minute after I took the shots.

Seemed to be trying to move them to the floating plants, or did she just eat them? Couldn't tell for sure.

All fish including the cories themselves will readily eat any eggs they come across. If an egg is attached somewhere where the fish cannot easily spot it, it can survive and hatch. The fry if it has good cover has a better chance of surviving predation than the egg does. Over the years, I have had a few cory fry appear, most often in the canister filter; I assume the fry upon hatching was sucked in, as I cannot see the sticky eggs making it through the filter.

 

[outofwater]

If she picked them of the glass she ate them.

While this whole thing was unexpected now I'm a bit bummed about she eating the eggs.

If I recall correctly that's how most fish are anyway. Since now i know I've got cories of both sexes, it will happen again.

Any tips on how to prevent she- or any of them- eating the eggs?

Thanks

 

[Byron]

You cannot prevent any and all fish from eating eggs if the eggs are left in the tank with the fish, so you need to remove the eggs to a hatching net/tank. I used a nylon spawning net hung in the right front corner; water can still get through the nylon mesh, but not fish including the fry when they hatch. Put a dried leaf or two in for infusoria, the first food of fry.

Another method is to move the cories to a separate tank, and remove the parents after spawning. I've never done this, and given the drawn-out spawning process I would think it has risks, but others will know.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

While this whole thing was unexpected now I'm a bit bummed about she eating the eggs.

If I recall correctly that's how most fish are anyway. Since now i know I've got cories of both sexes, it will happen again.

Any tips on how to prevent she- or any of them- eating the eggs?

Thanks

Yep Byron’s right. Nothing you can do except intervene quickly once the eggs have been laid. So if it happens when you’re not paying attention they’ll likely all get eaten.

 

[outofwater]

Sorry @Byron but it is a C.paleatus (Peppered) . The albino is a C.aeneus.

thanks, so it seems I have a peppered cory, and 4 bronze (one albino). I'll see if I can get more peppered ones so this guy doesn't "feel" alone. he seems a happy camper though, always zipping around and exploring, and he does shoal with the others at times.

 

[Colin_T]

OMG so it IS breeding behavior. Was trying to get a better shot of the big girl, look at those eggs under her fins!

BTW, also realized my dumb "smart" phone was "optimizing" the pictures. These are slightly better, clearer, "non-enhanced" shots.

The female came and picked them off the glass just a minute after I took the shots.

Seemed to be trying to move them to the floating plants, or did she just eat them? Couldn't tell for sure.

Any suggestions as to what, if any, I should be doing now?

The first picture in post #12 shows her carrying eggs in her anal fins. If that picture was in focus, it would be a ripper

If the adults are fed really well, and you have lots of hiding places (plants and wood), the parents don't normally eat the eggs. But if they get hungry they might. Some parents are more willing to eat their own eggs but others are less inclined to doing it.

If you feed them 3-5 times a day with a variety of dry, frozen and live foods, that will usually keep them full enough so they ignore the eggs.

If they continue to eat eggs, then do as @Byron said and move the adults to a breeding tank, let them do their bit and then move the adults out.

If you do feed more often, do big daily water changes and gravel clean the substrate to keep the tank clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[outofwater]

The first picture in post #12 shows her carrying eggs in her anal fins. If that picture was in focus, it would be a ripper

If the adults are fed really well, and you have lots of hiding places (plants and wood), the parents don't normally eat the eggs. But if they get hungry they might. Some parents are more willing to eat their own eggs but others are less inclined to doing it.

If you feed them 3-5 times a day with a variety of dry, frozen and live foods, that will usually keep them full enough so they ignore the eggs.

If they continue to eat eggs, then do as @Byron said and move the adults to a breeding tank, let them do their bit and then move the adults out.

If you do feed more often, do big daily water changes and gravel clean the substrate to keep the tank clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Thanks, my phone takes better pictures, but between the lighting and a waterproof case I can't seem to get a decent shot of this setup yet.

About feeding: I've got aqueon bottom feeder tablets, and Hikari sinking wafers. Since I have 5 of these guys, I feed 5 Hikari wafers (small and don't puff up too much) and split two aqueon tablets (they're big and then puff up in the water, a lot) twice a day. The Hikari wafers are specifically advertised as having more protein,while the tablets have more of a vegetable content to them. It's clear they like the wafers a lot more, however they do finish all the food, although the tablet pieces sometimes hang in there until later (half an hour sometimes) but eventually they finish it all. I plan on getting freeze dried bloodworms on my next visit to the lfs.

Any comments/recommendations/adjustment suggestions? Too little? Too much? Not enough variety.

Thanks

 

[Colin_T]

I would reduce the bottom feeding wafers to maybe 3 small and 1 big.

I wouldn't bother with freeze dried foods. instead look in the freezer for frozen foods like brineshrimp, daphnia, mysis shrimp, bloodworms and marine mix. You can also buy raw/ cooked prawn from fishing stores (bait section) and from supermarkets in their seafood/ freezer section.

To use prawn, take one out of the freezer and remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in body) and throw these bits away. Use a pr of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into little pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let the fish eat it and then offer a bit more. Feed until the fish are full, then remove uneaten food.

Wash your hands and scissors with soapy water after use.

If you have live shrimp in the tank, then only use cooked prawn so no diseases get transferred into your aquarium.

You might look into getting a white or grindal worm culture. These are small terrestrial worms and most fish love them. White worms are bigger than grindal worms, but both can be fed to fish. Small earthworms can also be offered and you might consider starting a worm farm with a small species of worm, so you can feed them to the fish.

 

[Byron]

About feeding: I've got aqueon bottom feeder tablets, and Hikari sinking wafers. Since I have 5 of these guys, I feed 5 Hikari wafers (small and don't puff up too much) and split two aqueon tablets (they're big and then puff up in the water, a lot) twice a day. The Hikari wafers are specifically advertised as having more protein,while the tablets have more of a vegetable content to them. It's clear they like the wafers a lot more, however they do finish all the food, although the tablet pieces sometimes hang in there until later (half an hour sometimes) but eventually they finish it all. I plan on getting freeze dried bloodworms on my next visit to the lfs.

There are some important issues with this food.

Foods that are plant (algae/kelp/vegetable) based should not be fed more than once a week, if that; Corydoras have trouble digesting plant/vegetable matter.

Carnivore foods that are high in protein should not be fed at all; cories have serious digestive issues with these.

Freeze-dried foods are not recommended for cories (or in my view any other fish) as they need to be thoroughly soaked. If not, they can be eaten dry and then "plump up" in the fish's stomach or intestines, causing serious problems. And when it comes to nutrition, these are not any better than the quality dried and fresh frozen foods.

Bloodworms and indeed any worm should not be fed more often than once a week, and fresh frozen (or live if you can get them at the fish store) are better.

The single best food for cories is Bug Bites. The natural diet of these fish is primarily insects and insect larvae, crustaceans, and then minimal worms. The Fluval Bug Bites are #1, they come in various sizes, sink rapidly, and provide the most natural food. Quality shrimp pellets are good, and here the Omega One are better than Hikari or any others [these have undesirable "additives" as fillers and binders]. If you were in the UK I would also recommend a tablet whose name I cannot remember, but doesn't matter as they are not available in NA anyway. The Bug Bites can be fed every other day as the "staple" food, with the shrimp pellets as alternates. Frozen daphnia is excellent, along with frozen brine shrimp.

The above is largely from Ian Fuller who has as much knowledge of this group of fish as anyone.

 

[outofwater]

There are some important issues with this food.

Foods that are plant (algae/kelp/vegetable) based should not be fed more than once a week, if that; Corydoras have trouble digesting plant/vegetable matter.

Carnivore foods that are high in protein should not be fed at all; cories have serious digestive issues with these.

Freeze-dried foods are not recommended for cories (or in my view any other fish) as they need to be thoroughly soaked. If not, they can be eaten dry and then "plump up" in the fish's stomach or intestines, causing serious problems. And when it comes to nutrition, these are not any better than the quality dried and fresh frozen foods.

Bloodworms and indeed any worm should not be fed more often than once a week, and fresh frozen (or live if you can get them at the fish store) are better.

The single best food for cories is Bug Bites. The natural diet of these fish is primarily insects and insect larvae, crustaceans, and then minimal worms. The Fluval Bug Bites are #1, they come in various sizes, sink rapidly, and provide the most natural food. Quality shrimp pellets are good, and here the Omega One are better than Hikari or any others [these have undesirable "additives" as fillers and binders]. If you were in the UK I would also recommend a tablet whose name I cannot remember, but doesn't matter as they are not available in NA anyway. The Bug Bites can be fed every other day as the "staple" food, with the shrimp pellets as alternates. Frozen daphnia is excellent, along with frozen brine shrimp.

The above is largely from Ian Fuller who has as much knowledge of this group of fish as anyone.

Much appreciated I'll "expand" the menu and adjust as I go, to ensure they're getting the right food and nutrition

 

[outofwater]

hey everyone, thank you all for your replies. had a busy day today with these guys.
still can't find a fellow peppered cory, seems nobody is bringing those in for now . decided to change the substrate today, went full sand. PITA to rinse, but worth it, even after multiple rinses it still looks a bit cloudy in the tank, but it would've look like a mudslide if I hadn't rinsed it at all.

added two more plants (one rooted, one floting). decided to pull the trigger on the next guys on my list, so got a dozen neon tetras, and decided to go with 2 otos too.

I changed about 50% of the water along with the substrate change, cleaned the glass and water parameters seem stable even with all the big changes today. ph around 7.5, zero nitrites, 5M nitrates, and 0.25 ammonia. I'm assuming the slight spike in ammonia might be due to the substrate change since that's really the only big difference, but will keep an eye on it in the new few days just to be sure nothing goes off track.

I'll keep checking on the peppered cories to see when I can get a buddy or two for the one I have right now, other than that, it'll probably be another 2 weeks or so before I add any more fish. I wanted to have a betta and the whole list of fish I'm working with centers around that, however I saw dwarf gouramis today again (had seen them before) and might go for those instead in the end. eventually I'll either add the betta, or a couple of dwarf gouramis, and either add more neon tetras, and/or add a half dozen harlequin rasboras, and that should be full "population" for this tank

just wanted to share this, because I can really, REALLY see how the corys are so much happier with the sand. thank you all for your replies and tips.

once the water clears up completely, I'll take an updated pic.

 

[Byron]

The water will clear, it is likely not just the sand substrate but a bacterial bloom too, just be patient. Neither are harmful to any of the fish. Nice job.

 

[outofwater]

The water will clear, it is likely not just the sand substrate but a bacterial bloom too, just be patient. Neither are harmful to any of the fish. Nice job.

This is the day after, still slightly blurry, but as of today it is almost as clear as it was before the change. Gotta admit, this looks so much better and the corys definitely love that sand.

However now I'm dealing with what seems to be some bacterial issue bought along by the neons....

 

[Byron]

However now I'm dealing with what seems to be some bacterial issue bought along by the neons....

What makes you think this?

 

[outofwater]

What makes you think this?

Not to cross-post, but yeah.

I just wanted to come back to this one to thank you bc without your nudge I probably would've put off the substrate change.

Thread 'Dozen neon tetras, down to 9, and counting' https://www.fishforums.net/threads/dozen-neon-tetras-down-to-9-and-counting.478607/